Stephen Colbert is taking his impending replacement in stride—or at least with the kind of dry detachment that’s become his trademark.
In his new Hollywood Reporter cover story, the outgoing host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was asked about CBS filling his time slot with Comics Unleashed, the long-running panel show hosted by Byron Allen.
“God bless him,” Colbert said. “I know Byron. We got to know each other last year, actually. He’s fascinating.”
Colbert went on to reference Allen’s early career milestone—his appearance at age 18 on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson—before noting he reached out after hearing the news.
“When I found out, I wrote him the next morning and I said, ‘Hey, congrats. I heard you got the time. Good for you. Wouldn’t it be lovely if you could drop Mr. Carson a note?’”
Pressed on whether being replaced by a non-traditional late-night show made the situation better or worse, Colbert declined to engage.
“It’s none of my business.”
As LateNighter first reported last year when Comics Unleashed replaced After Midnight, Allen’s arrangement with CBS at 12:37 has been a time-buy, meaning his company pays CBS for the airtime and sells the advertising within the show. The 11:35 deal extends that approach to the network’s entire late-night block, with another Allen-produced show, Funny You Should Ask, joining the lineup.
According to CBS, its deal with Allen will return late night to a revenue-positive state after network sources previously indicated that The Late Show was running at a $40 million deficit.
That purported $40 million loss—a figure that’s been met with skepticism by some—has since become a running joke on the show itself. Colbert told The Hollywood Reporter it came as a surprise to him, especially since the network had tried to lock him into a five-year contract 18 months before canceling the show.
Allen’s Comics Unleashed is set to take the 11:35 p.m. CBS slot on May 22, the night after Colbert’s Late Show finale.
